About The
eLearning Guild

The eLearning Guild is the oldest and most trusted source of information, networking, and community for eLearning professionals. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces a countless number of resources all devoted to the idea that the people who know the most about making eLearning successful are the people who produce eLearning every day in corporate, government, and academic settings. Our goal is to create a place where eLearning professionals can share their knowledge, expertise, and ideas to build a better industry—and better learning experiences—for everyone.

Sessions in Block 9

How did Samsung Australia prepare for a shift from live, in-person
training and product launch services to sales teams at 24-plus wireless
carriers and big box retailers across Australia and New Zealand? What is
required to train more than 20,000 external retail staff on an end-to-end
platform—spanning registration, content delivery, and tracking—and provide support
for each carrier through a privately branded experience?

With the dazzle of technology and tools, it’s easy to get
distracted from the basic question: “What will the learner be able to do after
the experience that they can’t do now?” Return to the days of accelerated
learning and rediscover the nuggets needed to design learning that drives
retention and fun by honoring the unique needs of each participant.

SCORM, the xAPI, cmi5, and a host of other learning data standards
exist and have widespread acceptance in the learning community. How can these
standards extend beyond the learning world into the realm of enterprise
technology? What the industry needs now is a distinct and real conversation on
how to align learning technology with the technology used by the rest of the
enterprise.

A badge is a symbol or indicator of
an accomplishment, skill, competency, or interest. Badges provide evidence of
learning that happens in and beyond formal learning settings. Unlike
transcripts or resumes, badges give prospective employers, schools,
collaborators, and other learners a more complete picture of knowledge, skills,
and abilities of the badgeholder. As with degrees, certificates, and
credentials, a comprehensive ecosystem surrounds and supports badges.

Animation is a powerful tool for creating engaging eLearning
experiences. Sadly, most animations are used without purpose as a design
embellishment. When this happens, the use of animation distracts the learner
from the content, rather than helping to elevate the content.

The classic eLearning lesson forces participants to read slide
after slide of textual content and take an evaluation when completed. Employees
retain just enough to pass the test, so they can check off yet another
mandatory course. As a rule, employees dread this kind of learning but consider
it a necessary evil.

Whether it is educating the public about a hobby, product, or
public service, informal learning is becoming an increasingly important
channel. The options for distributing video-based informal learning content
have grown. YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and other devices all
provide important pathways to reach consumers and learners. Despite the number
of channels now available, not all channels are appropriate to reach all
audiences.

Virtual classroom technologies are not new. In fact, you may
already be hosting web-based meetings and training sessions. But are your
preparation, delivery, engagement, and evaluation skills good enough to pass
CompTIA’s trainer certification tests (CTT+)? Great virtual instructor-led
training requires much more than logging in, turning on your microphone, and
reading bulleted slides or demonstrating software features. You need to shift
your approach to make the very best use of the resources available in WebEx,
Adobe Connect, or GoTo webinar and engage learners in meaningful ways.

A number of myths persist about the alleged, ever-shortening
attention spans of people, but what does the science say? Neuroscience,
behavioral economics, and consumer psychology all offer insights into how attention
is managed and allocated. Additionally, the ability to manage attention and
focus seems to be related to the abilities that allocate willpower and
influence how decisions are made.

Most eLearning developers want to be efficient and productive, and
want to please their customers. Clients or supervisors, however, often do not
understand why it takes so long to develop eLearning. Captivate developers
require an extensive set of tools and techniques in their arsenal in order to
utilize the intricacies of the full environment effectively.

With the advent of the xAPI, a new learning technology product has
come into being: the learning record store (LRS). It is a requirement for using
the xAPI to track learner behavior, serving as a repository for data generated
by the xAPI statements. Stakeholders need to know the basics of how LRSs work
and the range of features available in them in order to make intelligent
acquisition, ecosystem design, and implementation decisions. In order to use
the xAPI, you must have an LRS.

Every workplace has a culture. However, the real culture within an
organization often doesn’t resemble the mission statement and core values
posted in the hallways and on the company’s website. And, if eLearning or
knowledge is included in the company’s values, this tends to refer to limited,
formal training events, or tuition reimbursement. Learning professionals must
understand the foundational impact their efforts can have on the organization
and its culture—everything from the way work is done to how employees relate to
customers.

A multinational industrial manufacturing company recognized that
it had excessively high inventory costs. The executive vice president of quality
systems engaged a L&D organization to see whether they could help.
L&D conducted a thorough needs analysis, harvested knowledge from experts,
and developed a solution using five ecosystem components: performance support,
knowledge management, access to experts, social networking and collaboration,
and structured learning.